Abishiri Brewery in Japan's Hokkaido prefecture has started manufacturing a low-malt beer with milk in it named "Bilk", after learning local dairy farms were just throwing out their surplus milk. "After they put beer yeast and hops into the drink and began the fermentation process, the beverage looked and smelled like tea with milk. However, when fermentation was complete and the drink cooled down, it had the same color as beer." Bilk is supposed to have a fruity taste to it, I wonder if it's like Yakult? [via designboom]... More

Derrick at Obsession With Food is getting giddy over Japanese polyonimo puzzles made out of Meiji Seika chocolate. How, I wonder, would one ever complete the puzzle, given that half of the pieces would disappear en route?... More

Rooted in the Japanese tradition of chindogu is the Swiss art of Umdenken. Whereas chindogus self-identify as the deliberate invention of the useless, the Swiss are actually quite resourceful. As is their wont. I especially like the Schweizerstäbli, the Ölfinger, the T-Fresh and the Sommerpedale. Thanks Paul for the link!... More

Okay, I pointed to these guys already but they keep giving and giving, I can't resist. Check out these (apparently discontinued, sadly) sushi USB drives, strawberry milk sausage, and sushi-making robot. This "head tired sexy knee pillow" has NOTHING to do with food but it may be my favorite thing on the site.... More

If your college diet consisted partly—oh, who are we kidding—mostly of instant ramen, you have Momofuku Ando to thank (or blame.) Mr. Ando, the product's inventor, died Friday at 96. Says the Los Angeles Times: As recounted in his 2002 autobiography, "How I Invented Magic Noodles," Ando's eureka moment occurred in 1957, when he noticed a long line of customers waiting for service outside a noodle shop. He asked himself if there was not a faster way to serve all those busy-but-famished construction workers and salarymen who were working late shifts and overtime hours to rebuild Japan after the war. Photograph from Reuters... More